Signaling for railways.



No. 779,390. PATENTED JAN. 3, 1905. W. S. BERRY.

SIGNALING FOR RAILWAYS APPLIOATION FILED my 25. 1903.

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FIGJ- WITH ESBIS 9M4 WW PATENTED' JAN. 3, 1905. W. s BERRY.

SIGNALING FOR RAILWAYS.

APPLIGATION rum) MAY 25. 1903.

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FIGJS.

' a I IITOI Atty No. 779,390. PATBNTED JAN. 3, 1905. W. S BERRY. SIGNALING FOR RAILWAYS.

APPLlGATION TILED MAY 25. 1903.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3 WITNESSES:

UNITED STATES Patented January 3, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM S. BERRY, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

SIGNALING FOR RAI LWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 779,390, dated January 3, 1905.

Application filed May 25, 1903. Serial No. 158,755-

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. BERRY, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Signaling for Railways, of which improvements the following is a specification.

In signaling for electric railways where the current for operating or controlling the signal mechanism is taken from the trolley-wire great difliculty is experienced by reason of the variation in voltage of the current-as, for example, if the current has a maximum of five hundred and fifty volts when the traffic is light the voltage will drop one hundred or more volts during the busy hours when the traflic is heavy. Hence if the magnets controlling the signals are wound to the maximum voltage they will not have su'lIicient power to shift the signals when the voltage is reduced, and if wound to or nearly to the -minimum voltage the magnets will be burned out by the heavy current with the voltage during the hours when the traffic is light.

The object of the invention described herein is to provide for the protection of the signalmagnets by the automatic interposition of sufficient resistance in the circuit of the magnets to protect them from injury by the heavy current, the magnets being primarily wound or their circuits adjusted to be operative to shift the signals with low voltage.

The invention is hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view showing the signal mechanisms at two adjacent turnouts of a single-track road and circuits therefor. Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the manner of cutting in and out the protecting resistances. Figs. 3', A, 5, and 6 are detail views of parts shown in Fig. 2. Figs. 7 and 8 are side and front elevations, respectively, of circuit-controlling mechanism employed at each station. Figs. 9 and 10 are front and sectional elevations of one of the members of the make-andbreak mechanism. Figs. 11 and 12 are a plan view and a side elevation, respectively, of .the

the plane of sections being indicated by the line X X, Fig. 11.

While any suitable form of construction of switch or shunt mechanism may be employed whereby a portion of the current on trolley may be diverted to the signal mechanism, the construction shown in Figs. 11 and 12 is preferred. As shown therein, two metal anglebars 1 are secured to blocks 2, of wood, extending along parallel with the trolley-wire and are supported thereon by means of crossbars 3 and 4c, the trolley-wire passing under the cross-bars 3 and over the cross-bars I. A clip 5, such as is usually employed for supporting trolley-wires, is connected thereto and is supported by wires extending to posts on opposite sides of the road, as is the usual practice. The cross-bars 3 and A are provided with suitable seats for the trolley-wire, the cross-bars 3 having such seats on their under sides, while the seats on the bars at are formed on the upper sides thereof. The ends of the angle-bars l, which form the contacts forthe trolley-wheel, as they pass onto the wire are bent upward slightly, so that the trolley-wheel will pass easily to and from the angle-bars without liability of throwing it out of engagement with either. roads these shunt devices form a part of or are connected to both trolley-wires of the turnouts, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

In describing the construction and operation of my improvement it will be supposed that the cars are moving in direction of arrows (1 One of the angle-bars of the turnout A is connected by a wire 6 with a solenoid 7 of the signal mechanism at the next station, said solenoid being connected to ground, preferably through a suitable resistance 7. As the trolley-wheel passes from the wire and onto the angle-bars at station A a portion of the current of the trolley-wire will be diverted and energize solenoid 7, thereby raising its core 8, to which is connected a bar 9, carrying a pawl 10, pivoted thereto, and adapted to be forced by a spring into engagement with the rack-Wheel 11 of the shaft 12. By the movement of the bar 9 rotation is imparted In the case of single-track to the ratchet-wheel 11, which is prevented from any return movement by the pawl 13, pivoted to a part of the frame of the machine. In order to prevent an overruning of the ratchet-wheel, an arm 14 is so connected to the bar 9 that as the bar reaches the upward limit of its movement this arm 14 will have been so raised that its end will engage one of the teeth of the supplemental ratchet-wheel 15 on the shaft 12. By the rotation of the shaft 12 an arm 16 thereon will be so shifted that a contact-block 17, carried by the arm, will be shifted away from a contact-plate 18 on a disk 19, which is loosely mounted on the shaft 12. By this movement of the contact 17 away from the plate 18 a circuit is broken, said circuit consisting of wire 20, extending from the trolleywire, brush 21, hearing on the hub of the arm 16, carrying the contact block or brush 17, the contact-plate 18, and brush 22, contacting with the hub of the disk and elec trically connected to the plate 18, wire 23, solenoid 24 at station B, wire 25, solenoid 24 at station A, wire 26, and resistances 27 to ground. By the breaking of this circuit the solenoids 24 and 24 become deenergized, permitting the semaphores H and D to drop, one to caution and the other to danger position. The short arms of these semaphores are provided, respectively, with a green and red lens, which when the signals move to caution and danger position pass in front of awhite light, thereby giving the proper indication for night. These lamps are included by preference in a circuit formed by wires 28, extending from the trolley-wire to ground or to a return-wire. As the car passes along to the next turnout B the trolley-wheel will form contact with a shunt mechanism at that station, and a portion of the current will flow by the wire 29 to the solenoid 30 and thence through a suitable re sistance 7 to ground. By the energizing of this solenoid its core 31 will be drawn up, thereby lifting a bar 9, connected thereto. This bar with shifting and arresting pawls 10 and 14 is operative on the ratchet-wheels 11 and 15, connected to the hub of the disk 19, so that by the upward movement of the bar 9 the disk 19 is moved forward a distance equal to the previous forward movement of the arm 16, so as to bring the plate 18' into contact with the block 17 and reestablish the circuit through the solenoids 24 and 24, energizing such solenoids and shifting the signals 11 and D to clear positions. In order to prevent either the disk 19 or arm 16 from being shifted while the other is being moved, stop-pawls 14 are employed. When a car is moving in the opposite direction, or in the direction of the arrows 6, a portion of the current at turnout B will be diverted, and the current will flow by the wire 34 to solenoid 35, set into operation a makeand-break mechanism similar to that heretofore described, which effects a rupture of the signal-circuit consisting, starting from the trolley-wire, of the wire 36, brush 37, arm 16 and disk 19, brush 38, wire 39, solenoid 40, wire 41, solenoid wire 42 to resistances 27 to ground or return-wire. By the deenergizing of solenoids 40 and 40 signals D and H will be set to caution and danger positions. As this same car passes through the shunt device at station A a portion of the current from the trolley will flow by wire 44 to solenoid 45 and thence through resistances to ground and will so shift the make-and-break mechanism of the signal-circuit at station A as to restore the circuit containing solenoids 40 and 40 and cause signals D and H to go to clear positions. As a car passes out of the turnout A, going in the direction ofthe arrow (4, it will set a caution-signal behind it and a danger or red signal at the next turnout ahead, so as to prevent cars fromsuch turnout entering the gauntlet connecting these turnouts. Two or more cars going in the same direction may pass on to the gauntlet, the rear cars having received indication from signal H that a car is on the gauntlet ahead of it. As each car enters the gauntlet or passes through the shunt mechanism of the turnout A it will impart a forward move to the arm 16, thus carrying the contact-block 17 farther along the insulating-strip X on the disk 19 and away from the contact-plate 18, so that although the front car as it passes from the gauntlet onto the turnout and through the shunt device at station B will impart a movement to the disk 19 in the same direction as the prior movement of the arm 16 such movement will not be suflicient to bring the contact-plate 18 against the block 17. Hence the signals will remain in the same position until all the carson the gauntlet have passed through the shunt device of the turnout B. This step-bystep movement of the make-and-break mechanism will permit as many cars as desired to enter upon a gauntlet going in the same direction, and signals cannot be restored to clear position until the last car has passed from the shunt device of the turnout at the exit end of the gauntlet. The magnets 7, 30, 35, and 45, employed for shifting the makeand-break mechanism, are subjected only for a short time z'. 6., while the trolley-wheel passes over the shunt device to the full voltage-so that no injury will be done thereto, although wound or adjusted by resistances in the circuits to operate with the lowest voltage on the trolley-wire; but as the signaloperating magnets 24 24 and 40 40 may be in an energizing condition for a considerable time and they must be wound or their circuits adjusted by the interposition of suitable resistances to operate with the lowest voltage on the trolley-wire provision must be made to protect them from injury by the highest voltage. 'To this end the signalmagnets wound or adjusted by the interposition of the resistances 27 in their circuits to IIO ' operate with approximately the lowest voltage on the trolley-wire and then by means of suitable commutating devices resistances are added to the circuits of these signal-magnets, so as to protect them from the heavy current due to the highest voltage. By this means, although they may at the starting of the signal to safety be subjected to a very heavy current, which, if continued, would injure them, after the preliminary movement sufficient resistances are thrown in to protect them from injury by such current. In Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 I have illustrated the manner of throwing in these additional or protecting resistances. It will be observed that each of the magnets 24 24 4O 40 have one of their terminals connected to a spring or brush 46 andthat two additional springs or brushes 47 and 48 are arranged to bear upon a commutator. The spring or brush 46 has a constant contact with the metallic portion of the. commutator 52, while the springs 47 and 48 will bear part of the time upon a conducting portion of the commutator and part of the time upon an insulating portion thereof, depending upon the position of the commutator. These commutators are adapted to be operated by the movements of the signals to and from safety positions. The brushes 47 are connected to the adjusting resistances 27, while the brushes 48 are connected to the protecting resistances 50 and 51. A convenient construction to this end consists in mounting the commutator upon the shaft or pivot-pin 49 of the signal.

In describing the operation of protecting the signal-solenoids it will be supposed that H and D are being shifted from danger to clear position. While the signals are at danger, the brushes 46 and 47 will bear upon conducting portions of the commutators at both stations, so that the'adjusting resistance 27 will be included in thecircuits of both solenoids 24 and 24 and the springs or brushes 48 will rest upon a non-cond ucting portion of the commutator. Hence when the circuit of these solenoids is first completed the full power of the solenoids will be effective to impart the initial movements to the semaphores, and as such movement continues, requiring less power than the starting movement, additional resistance will be inserted by the movement of the commutators, so as to bring the brushes or springs 48 into contact with theconducting portion of the commutators, the current passing from the brushes 46 along the conducting portion of the commutators to the brushes 48L By this movement of the commutators additional resistances 50 and 51 are thrown into these circuits, thus protecting the solenoids from heavycurrent, due to high voltage, if such be,upon the trolley-wire. 1 It is possible to thus introduce resistances which will protect the magnets from high- Voltage current, even though a portion of the time the magnets will be subjected to a lowvoltage current, for the reason that full power is employed for starting the semaphores from danger positions, and less power is required thereafter to complete the movement of semaphores and to hold them in clear positions.

I claim herein as my invention- 1. In a signaling system for electric railways the combination of a circuit branching from the trolley-circuit, asignal, electricallyoperated mechanism controlling said signal, a make-and-break mechanism controlling the branch circuit and means for changing the amount of current in the branch circuit controlled by the signal signaling-magnet, substantially as set forth.

2. In a signaling system for electric railways, the combination of a circuit branching from the trolley-circuit, a signal, electricallyoperated mechanism included in said branch circuit for controlling the signal, a make-andbreak mechanism controlling the branch circuit, protecting resistances and means controlled by the signal signaling-magnet for shifting said resistance into and out of the branch circuit, substantially as set forth.

3. In a signaling system for electric railways, the combination of a circuit branching from the trolley-circuit, a signal, electricallyoperated mechanism included in the branch circuit for controlling the signal, a make-andbreak controlling the branch circuit, protecting resistances and means operative on the initial movement of the signal mechanism for including said resistances in the branch circuit, substantially as set forth.

4. In a system of signaling for electric railways, the combination ofa branch circuit extending from the trolley-circuit, an electrically-operated signal mechanism included in said circuit, said circuit being maintained at a low operative voltage, a make-and-break mechanism controlling the branch circuit and means controlled by the signal mechanism for changing the amount of current in the branch circuit, substantially as set forth.

5. In signaling system for electric railways, the combination of a branch. circuit extending from the trolley-circuit, an electrically-operated signal mechanism included in said circuit, said circuit being maintained at a low operative voltage, a make-and-break mechanism included in the branch circuit, protecting resistance and means controlled by the signal mechanism for shifting said resistanceinto and out of the branch circuit, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

IVILLIAM S. BERRY.

Witnesses:

DARWIN S. WoLcoTT, F. E. GAITHER.

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